Deep Sea Diving... it's got a long way to go to test the SDDS! (long)

[JostheBoss]

With Rolex's enduring love of the deep now as strong as ever, let's take stock of diving as it stands today...

The release of the SDDS got me wondering exactly how far diving had come along. Well, let me say that the SDDS is overkill for today's (and most likely for all mankind's) individual diving achievements, both recreational and commercial. Hope the info helps

The world record for the deepest individual scuba dive was set by a South African man(woo-hoo!!), Nuno Gomez, in mid 2005. He dived to a depth of 318.25m (1044.13ft) in the Red Sea. It took him 20 minutes to reach his target depth and 12 hours to ascend!

Commercial diving is capable of reaching deeper depths due to the use of specialised equipment (suits, gas pipelines, helmets and bells) as well as different gas mixtures. In addition, these divers are extremely adept in this environment and do this for a living. Indeed, some jobs have seen divers work out of a bell at around 600ft, with divers leaving the ball for a short spell at a time. They can stay down there for 30 days!!! And their ascent/decomression takes an additional few days. Talk about cabin fever

I was not able to find exact figures and commercial dive records, but did find the following info...

A diver with a helmet and air supply is limited to 200ft.
A diver with a helmet and mixed gas supply can extend the dive to 300ft
A diver with a bell bounce can go to 600ft
A "full saturation dive" (whatever that means?!) can be conducted at 2000ft

But there is evidence that beyond this depth, divers are at risk of direct tissue damage! So that's where we are, much shallower than the SDDS and still well within the range of the trusty SD

Interestingly, Rolex holds on to its diving heritage for good reason. The deepest place is the Mindanao Deep in the Marianas trench, at 10,850m (35,588ft) deep. This place has only been reached once, by the two intrepid explorers in the Trieste Bathysacphe in the '60s. It has never been visited since!

And we all know which timepiece followed them down for the ride